Post shares tips on enhancing store sales, image
Retailers urged to embrace change
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, October 4, 2007
AT THE MARKET — From McDonalds selling apple sticks like they were French fries, to vending machines dispensing iPods, the world is changing around a furniture industry that seems to be stuck in a time warp.
That was a big part of the message from Connie Post, president and CEO of The Connie Post Companies, who urged retailers at a seminar here to embrace change and the changing consumer, taking back the home furnishings territory they have given up over the years.
She focused on affordable changes retailers could make to rev up business and update their image.
Post said that, over time, furniture stores have handed over whole or partial categories to other retail channels, including electronics and appliances, home office furniture and chairs, even youth and leather upholstery, which now often go to specialty stores.
She noted that bedding specialty stores recently passed full-line furniture stores in sales of mattresses.
Furniture stores are giving consumers fewer reasons to shop them, Post said. “Then we wonder why we’re not growing.”
Post offered a number of steps furniture stores could take to boost sales and improve their image. Here are a few:
Hold an in-store seminar on decorating with the hottest current colors, perhaps partnering with a local paint store.
Take back the home office category by catering to the female consumer with smaller-scale product and special features designed just for her. Offer a variety of office chairs with colorful fabric choices, something the office superstores don’t do.
Become a personal shopper to guys with a men-only event, perhaps linked to a sports event or maybe a poker night. Discuss coordinating styles and colors. “Do you know how many guys are out there who don’t have a clue?” she asked.
Think pets. It’s a $41 billion industry, Post said, and retailers could get a share of it by dedicated a small space to designer pet pillows and beds.
Think green. If you’re doing or carrying anything green, “you need to celebrate it on your floor,” she said. That could be as simple as placing the sustainable product before at green or leafy-patterned wall treatment.
Think young. Create a breath of fresh air in a small space with vertical merchandising features and modern accent and storage pieces. “It’s like putting a little happiness in your store,” she said.
Rethink your advertising. Post pointed to the furniture pages of a Williams-Sonoma catalog, noting how they pull consumers into beautiful room environments, paired with smaller photos that highlight key products and features from the larger image.
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